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RECOMMENDED ALBUMS

Recommended Albums: 1970-1974

Albums – remember those? No, not necessarily vinyl – I prefer CDs. But I’m talking about a well thought-out and well put-together set of songs by a single artist or group. This is an evolving list of albums that I recommend you check out. These are the “best of the best” – it’s a bit of a cop out to just say “everything by Bob Dylan”, etc. They are ranked (somewhat roughly) within the year of release. If you have a recommendation, let me know!

1970

Miles Davis – A Tribute to Jack Johnson

The Move – Shazam

Spirit – Twelve Dreams of Dr. Sardonicus

The Velvet Underground – Loaded

John Lennon – Plastic Ono Band

The Stooges – Fun House

The Beatles – Let It Be

The Who – Live at Leeds

Jethro Tull – Benefit

John Cale – Vintage Violence

Syd Barrett – The Madcap Laughs

John McLaughlin – Devotion

Can – Tago Mago

Grateful Dead – American Beauty

George Harrison – All Things Must Pass

Kris Kristofferson – Kristofferson

Emitt Rhodes – “

The Kinks – Lola vs. the Powerman & the Money-Go-Round, Pt. 1

Pink Floyd – Atom Heart Mother

Van Der Graaf Generator – H to He, Who Am the Only One

Grateful Dead – Workingman’s Dead

Magma – Magma

Nick Drake – Bryter Layter

Popol Vuh – Affenstunde

Tangerine Dream – Electronic Meditation

Yes – Time and a Word

Led Zeppelin – III

Syd Barrett – Barrett

Tim Buckley – Starsailor

1971

Led Zeppelin – IV

Jethro Tull – Aqualung

John Cale – Church of Anthrax

Funkadelic – Maggot Brain

Eugene McDaniels – Headless Heroes of the Apocalypse

Flower Travellin’ Band – Satori

Van Der Graaf Generator – Pawn Hearts

David Bowie – Hunky Dory

Serge Gainsbourg – Histoire de Melody Nelson

Roy Harper – Stormcock

Genesis – Nursery Cryme

The Who – Who’s Next

Brainticket – Cottonwoodhill

Pink Fairies – Neverneverland

Kevin Ayers – Whatevershebringswesing

T. Rex – Electric Warrior

Leo Kottke – 6- and 12- String Guitar

Rolling Stones – Sticky Fingers

Kraftwerk – 1

Faust – Faust

Leo Kottke – Mudlark

Ash Ra Tempel – Ash Ra Tempel

TONTO’s Expanding Head Band – Zero Time

1972

David Bowie – Ziggy Stardust

Faust – So Far

Big Star – #1 Record

Jethro Tull – Thick as a Brick

Matching Mole – Matching Mole

Aphrodite’s Child – 666

Lou Reed – Transformer

Wendy Carlos – A Clockwork Orange

Yes – Fragile

Budgie – Squawk

Mahavishnu Orchestra – Birds of Fire

Lou Reed – Lou Reed

Can – Ege Bamyasi

T. Rex – The Slider

Deep Purple – Machine Head

Miles Davis – On the Corner

Black Sabbath – Paranoid

Roxy Music – Roxy Music

Neu! – Neu!

Nick Drake – Pink Moon

Cluster II

Van Dyke Parks – Discover America

1973

Pink Floyd – The Dark Side of the Moon

Mike Oldfield – Tubular Bells

Lou Reed – Berlin

King Crimson – Larks’ Tongues in Aspic

Jethro Tull – A Passion Play

Robert Fripp and Brian Eno – No Pussyfooting

Hawkwind – Space Ritual

Gong – Flying Teapot

Todd Rundgren – A Wizard/A True Star

The Who – Quadrophenia

Magma – Mekanik Destruktiw Kommandoh

The Stooges – Raw Power

Genesis – Selling England by the Pound

Faust – Faust IV

Vangelis – Earth

John Martyn – Solid Air

The Cosmic Jokers – The Cosmic Jokers

Faust – The Faust Tapes

Led Zeppelin – Houses of the Holy

Kevin Ayers – Bananamour

Rick Wakeman – The Six Wives of Henry VIII

Mother Mallard’s Portable Masterpiece Company – “

Gong – Angel’s Egg

Shaun Harris – Shaun Harris

1974

King Crimson – Red

Robert Wyatt – Rock Bottom

Peter Hammill – In Camera

Bob Dylan – Blood on the Tracks

Yes – Relayer

Jorma Kaukonen – Quah

Harmonia – Musik Von Harmonia

Roxy Music – Country Life

Yahowha 13 – I’m Gonna Take You Home

Utopia – Todd Rundgren’s Utopia

Big Star – Radio City

Miles Davis – Dark Magus

Yahowha 13 – Penetration: An Aquarian Symphony

Be Bop Deluxe – Axe Victim

Popol Vuh – Einsjager & Siebenjager

Brian Eno – Here Come the Warm Jets

Gong – You

Jackson Browne – Late for the Sky

Magma – Kohntarkosz

Father Yod and the Spirit of ’76 – Contraction

Glen Campbell – Reunion: The Songs of Jimmy Webb

Discussion

2 comments for “Recommended Albums: 1970-1974”

pretty good list! My heart was warmed to see that I had quite a few of these, and quite a few that I wish that I still had. A wonderful trip down memory lane anyway. Many Thanks!